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RUNNING HEAD: Soil Respiration and Nitrogen Transformation Analysis

Soil Respiration and Nitrogen Transformation Analysis

A Laboratory Report for ENVL3432 Section 002

Performed by:

Rebecca Watson

Date submitted: May 5th, 2017

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Soil Respiration and Nitrogen Transformation Analysis

Abstract

Soil respiration can be studied by collecting data on the changes in carbon and nitrogen

over a period of time. Soils with a pH greater than 6 will have a higher mass of carbon removed

with added material such as alfalfa or sawdust. The objective of this study is to evaluate the

differences in the mass of carbon removed as well as the nitrate concentrations for five different

soil series with added material to the soil. The changes that occur during soil respiration were

investigated using several mason jars that were prepared and allowed to incubate for one month.

On the final day of incubation, the jars were opened and the use of titration determined the

amount of carbon lost while the remaining soil was tested for nitrate concentrations. It was

observed that the Glenelg series, although it had the second highest pH, released 0.864 grams of

carbon with added sawdust and 0.138 grams with added alfalfa. The highest average release of

carbon was from the control jars that contained only soil from each series and released 0.0165

grams of carbon and had a 22.5 mg/L concentration of nitrate. It was observed that the highest

changes occurred in the soil series that had a pH greater than 6. Overall, soil respiration should

be studied in order to understand how much the soils add to the atmospheric carbon flux.

Introduction

Respiration is a key function to nearly all living things. The process can be defined as the

uptake of oxygen while releasing carbon at the same time (Pell et al., 2005). Soil respiration is a

key process for the atmospheric carbon flux and soil water content as well as oxygen

concentrations and bioavailability of carbon are the main factors that influence and regulate soil
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Soil Respiration and Nitrogen Transformation Analysis

respiration (Pell et al., 2005). Soil respiration can be defined as the release of carbon dioxide

from soils from the production of carbon dioxide by the roots and soil organisms (Lloyd and

Taylor, 1994). Along with the release of carbon dioxide from the soils, nitrogen found in the

soils undergoes transformations such as immobilization and mineralization. Studies conducted

on soil mineralization are generally motivated by the need for rapid and reliable methods of

assessing soil nitrogen availability and therefore incubation time was limited to a minimum of 7-

14 days rather than allowing the soils to incubate for a full 28 days (Stanford and Smith, 1972).

To get reliable data on nitrogen mineralization, a full incubation time should be required.

Nitrogen immobilization is the conversion back to organic nitrogen from nitrate or ammonium.

Nitrogen immobilization is greatly limited by substrate availability within the soil and studies

conducted across the U.S. proved this point (Barrett and Burke, 2000). Soils with a pH greater

than 6 will have a higher mass of carbon removed with added material such as alfalfa or sawdust.

The objective of this study is to evaluate the differences in the mass of carbon removed as well

as the nitrate concentrations for five different soil series with added material to the soil.

Methods

The study was conducted on five different soil samples over the span of three weeks as

the jars used needed to incubate for that amount of time. Four mason jars were set up for each

sample for the study, three of which contained 50 grams of soil. Of those three, one contained

soil and 0.5 grams of sawdust, another contained soil and 0.5 grams of alfalfa, and the last

contained only soil. The jar that contained no soil was used as a blank for the study. The jars that

contained soil had deionized water added to them and were mixed thoroughly. In four test tubes,

20 mL of 2M NaOH were added and the test tubes were placed into each jar. After the test tubes
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Soil Respiration and Nitrogen Transformation Analysis

were placed, the lids were secured tightly and the jars were placed in a designated drawer and

allowed to incubate for three weeks. The jars were opened every few days to replenish the

oxygen and then stored in the same drawer.

At the end of the three week incubation period, the test tube was taken from each jar and

the contents were poured into an Erlenmeyer flask. To the flask, 25 mL of 1M BaCl2 was added

as well as phenolphthalein drops and the flask was swirled. The solution was titrated with HCl

until the colorless endpoint was reached and the solution was checked using a few more drops of

phenolphthalein to ensure the endpoint was reached. The procedure was repeated for the

remaining incubation jars noting each time how much HCl was needed to reach the endpoint. For

each treatment, the mass of carbon lost from the soil sample was calculated using the number of

moles of NaOH added at the beginning of the study and the volume of HCl added during the

titration. When needed, the blank was used to correct the calculated data before being converted

to the mass of carbon released. Deionized water was added to the soil left in each jar and the

resulting solution was tested for nitrate concentrations using nitrate test strips.

Results

The soil samples used for this study had many varying factors, such as pH and cation

exchange capacity, that made for differences in the data collected during the study (Table 1). The

series with the highest pH was the Duffield series and had a pH of 7.15 (Table 1). The series

with the lowest pH was the Matawan series with a pH of 4.44 (Table 1). After the study was

conducted, each soil sample showed a variation in the mass of carbon released as well as the

nitrate concentration (Table 2). The Glenelg series had the highest mass of carbon lost for both
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Soil Respiration and Nitrogen Transformation Analysis

the samples containing sawdust, 0.864 grams, and alfalfa, 0.138 grams, but had a pH of 7.12

(Table 1 & 2). The soil samples containing alfalfa showed overall higher masses of carbon being

released in comparison to the nitrate concentrations (Fig. 1). The control of one soil sample was

left out of the comparison as the data was not collected for the Matawan series (Fig. 1). The

highest mass of carbon released was 0.138 grams and the nitrate concentration was 50 mg/L

(Figure 1). The highest average mass of carbon released from each soil sample was from the

control jars which released 0.0165 grams of carbon (Figure 2). Taking into account the added

materials of sawdust or alfalfa, the jar which contained soil and alfalfa had the highest mass of

carbon lost which was roughly 0.0102 grams (Figure 2).

Discussion

The study conducted showed that soils that have a pH that is greater than 6 release more

carbon and tend to have a higher nitrate concentration than soils with a pH lower than 6. The

trends shown in Figure 1 supports this claim because the highest points from each of the added

materials are from soil series that have a pH greater than 6. It can also been seen in Table 2 that

the Glenelg series has the highest nitrate concentrations from the control and added alfalfa jars.

The series has the second highest pH of all five soil series samples. More acidic soils, those with

a pH less than 6, tend to have less soil organic carbon and therefore have a harder time releasing

carbon. Kara and her colleagues (2004) conducted a study similar to this study, but involved

plant life to see the differences in carbon released in soils of varying pH. The study showed that

two soil series, Karaakl and Baglar, were acidic and therefore did not show the same trend of

an increase in CO2 evolution as the other soil series samples (Kara et al., 2004). The study

conducted showed a similar trend to that of Kara and her colleagues: a more acidic soil released
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less carbon than a more basic soil. In order to understand more about soil respiration and the

effects of carbon lost as well as nitrate concentrations, another study should be conducted but

using jars that have incubated for a shorter and longer period of time. If data were to be collected

at these time periods, there could be a better understanding of the carbon removed. A different

set of soil series can also be used to test if pH is a factor that affects the amount of carbon

released. Soils that are more basic (closer to 14) should be observed and compared to those of

this study.
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Soil Respiration and Nitrogen Transformation Analysis

Particle Size Analysis CEC pH Nitrate (mg/L) SOC

%sand %silt %clay texture cmolc kg-1 in water in 1:1 extract %
Matawan 71.7 20.8 7.4 Sandy Loam 1.85 4.44 0.89
Sassafras 76 14 10 Sandy Loam 11.8 5.57 10 0.94
Galloway 83 15 2 Loamy Sand 9.405 6.6 5 4.94
Glenelg 49 43 8 Loam 9.8 7.12 50 11.32
Duffield 31 50 19 Silt Loam 24.05 7.15 25 12.67
Table 1. Compiled data of the five different soil series used in the study which was collected
during previous studies.
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Soil Respiration and Nitrogen Transformation Analysis

CO2-C (g) NO3- (mg/L)

Control Sawdust Alfalfa Control Sawdust Alfalfa
Galloway 0.0036 0.03362 0.1039 5 0 10
Sassafras 0.011 0.024 0.091 10 5 0
Duffield 0.0252 0.054 0.108 25 5 50
Glenelg 0.026422 0.086472 0.138115 50 5 50
Matawan -0.0018 0.067 5 0

Table 2. The five different soil samples and the results from titration and the nitrate test on each
of the varying factors.
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Soil Respiration and Nitrogen Transformation Analysis

Figure 1. The amount of carbon released in comparison to the nitrate concentration for each soil
sample under varying conditions.
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Soil Respiration and Nitrogen Transformation Analysis

Figure 2. The average mass of carbon released as compared to the average nitrate concentration
of all soil samples under the varying factors.
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Conclusion

Soil respiration studies can help to understand how carbon is removed from the soil as

well as the concentrations of nitrogen in the form of nitrate. In order to fully understand the

processes that take place during soil respiration, a full incubation period is needed to allow the

soils to release the maximum amount of carbon as well as transform the maximum amount of

nitrogen through mineralization or immobilization. As the study shows, a soil that is more acidic

will tend to release less carbon than that of a soil that is more basic. The soils with a pH greater

than 6 had the highest concentrations of nitrate as well as the highest masses of released carbon

even when materials were added to the soil samples. Overall, soil respiration should be studied in

order to understand how much the soils add to the atmospheric carbon flux.
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Soil Respiration and Nitrogen Transformation Analysis

References

Barrett, J.E., and I.C. Burke. 2000. Potential nitrogen immobilization in grassland soils across a

soil organic matter gradient. Soil Biol. Biochem. 32:1707-1716. doi: 10.1016/S0038-

0717(00)00089-4

Kara, E.E., M. Arli, and V. Uygur. 2004. Effects of herbicide topogard on soil respiration,

nitrification, and denitrification in potato-cultivated soils differing in pH. Biol. Fertil.

Soils. 39:474-478. doi: 10.1007/s00374-004-0729-3

Lloyd, J., and J.A. Taylor. 1994. On the temperature dependence of soil respiration. Funct. Ecol.

8:315-323. doi: 10.2307/2389824

Pell, M., Stenstrm, J., and Granhal, U. 2005. Soil respiration. In: Bloem, J., Hopkins, D.W., and

Benedetti, A., editors, Microbiological methods for assessing soil quality. CABI

Publishing, Cambridge, MA. p. 117-126.

Stanford, G., and S.J. Smith. 1972. Nitrogen mineralization potentials of soils. Soil Sci. Soc.

Amer. Proc. 36: 465-472.